BANGOR-ISCOED, a
parish, in the union of WREXHAM, comprising the townships of Eyton,
Pickhill, Ryton, and Sesswick, in the hundred of BROMFIELD, county of
DENBIGH, and the township of Bangor, in the hundred of MAELOR, county of
FLINT, NORTH WALES; the whole containing 1257 inhabitants, of whom 596
are in the township of Bangor, 5 miles (S. E.) from Wrexham, on the road
to Whitchurch. This place, which has received the adjunct of Iscoed to
distinguish it from the city of Bangor in Carnarvonshire, was the
station Branchorium of Richard of Cirencester, and is generally thought
to have been the Bovium, or Bonium, of Antonine. It was the site of the
most ancient MONASTERY in Britain, which having also been intended as a
school for religious instruction, became a great seminary for learning.
From this institution, the foundation of which is ascribed by some to
Lucius, King of Britain, under whose auspices Christianity is said to
have been firmly established in this country, the place obtained its
British name Ban-Gor, which was changed by the Saxons into
Banchornabyrig, a name descriptive of its importance as a privileged
town. Pelagius, the noted arch-heretic, who is affirmed to have been
a native of Britain, was educated at this monastery, of which he
became abbot, about the commencement of the fifth century. The Pelagian
heresy was principally eradicated by St. Germanus, who is said to have
introduced considerable improvement into the institution.

Augustine, having been
sent by Gregory the Great to re-establish Christianity in England by
converting the Saxons, endeavoured to extend the power of the Church of
Rome by usurping an authority over the British prelates. But the
latter resisting, a great council of the clergy was convened, at which
seven bishops and many learned men from the monastery of Bangor were
present: the British deputies continued firm in their refusal to submit
to St. Augustine, or aid him in his intended conversion of the Saxons;
in consequence of which the mortified missionary is said to have
denounced the judgment of God against them, predicting that, as they
would not accept peace with their Christian brethren, they would soon
have war with their pagan enemies, and that they would find death by the
swords of those to whom they had refused to preach the word of life.
This threat, if ever uttered, was accomplished a few years afterwards,
in the battle of Chester, by the slaughter which actually took place of
1150, out of 1200, monks who had gone forth to pray for the success of
their countrymen, the Welsh, against the Northumbrian Saxons, by whom,
under Ethelfrid, that ancient city had been attacked. The Saxons, having
defeated their opponents, and taken possession of Chester, advanced to
Bangor, where they entirely destroyed the monastery, and committed its
valuable library to the flames. They then intended to penetrate into
Wales, but their passage over the Dee at this place was disputed by Brochwel Yscithrog, Prince of Powys, who successfully resisted all
their attacks, until relieved by Cadvan, King of North Wales; Meredydd,
King of South Wales; and Bledrus, sovereign of Cornwall. The confederate
princes called to their aid the services of Dynawd, or Dunothus, abbot
of Bangor, and one of the fifty monks that had escaped the general
massacre of his brethren, who delivered an oration to the army, which he
concluded by ordering the soldiers to kiss the ground, before the action
commenced, in commemoration of the communion of the body of Christ,
and to take up water in their hands out of the river Dee, and drink it,
in remembrance of his sacred blood. This act of devotion infused a
confident courage among the Welsh, already ardent for revenge for the
calamities they had recently endured; and they encountered the
invaders with such bravery as entirely to defeat them, with the loss of
above 10,000 men, compelling Ethelfrid, with the remainder of his army,
to retreat into his own country.

From this disastrous infliction the monastery of Bangor never recovered:
the surviving monks were dispersed throughout the country, some of them
settling in North Wales, and others probably serving as a supply to the
ministry of the Church in South Wales, and in Armorica. At one period
the entire establishment here is said to have consisted of two thousand
four hundred brethren, of whom one hundred officiated by turns for one
hour, thus performing divine service both
day and night, whilst many of the others laboured for the benefit of the
community. The ruins of the vast pile of buildings that composed the
monastery, are described by William of Malmesbury, a short time after
the Norman conquest, as consisting of numerous half-demolished churches
and mutilated remains. At present the only vestiges that can be traced,
are parts of the foundations, extending for a considerable distance
along the eastern bank of the river Dee, which flows between the sites
of two of the ancient gates, of which they still retain the names; the
one being called " Porth Kleis," one mile southward of the church, on
the road to Overton; and the other " Porth Wgan," one mile and a
quarter west-north-westward from it, on the road to Wrexham.

The village is pleasantly situated on the eastern bank of the Dee, which
is navigable to this place, and is here crossed by a handsome bridge of
five arches, connecting the counties of Denbigh and Flint. According to
a manuscript preserved in the Wynnstay library. Bangor was the scene
of some events connected with the parliamentary war. In February, 1644,
"the bridge was betrayed to Colonel Mitton, who, coming over Dee, took
prisoners Sir Gerard Eaton, Sir Robert Eaton, with others :" about the
same time, " Bangor began to be fortified for the king ;" and in the
following December, " the king's soldiers burnt Bangor-upon-Dee and
other great houses that if fortified might annoy the garrisons of Salop
and Chester." The parish contains about eight thousand acres, of which
about five thousand are composed of a stiff clay, the remainder being
meadow land, generally of a sandy loam: the ground is chiefly flat, and
about two thousand acres are subject to inundation from the Dee. The
scenery in many places is beautiful and richly picturesque, the noble
sweeps of the river being frequently overshadowed by thick hanging
woods, which fringe its elevated banks.

The LIVING is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Overton annexed,
rated in the king's books at £39. 6. 8. ; present net income, £1200;
patron, the Marquess of Westminster. A rent-charge of £701. 13. has
been awarded in lieu of the tithes of Bangor, and there is a glebe of 2½
acres, valued at £3. 15. per annum; with a glebe-house. The church,
dedicated to St. Dynawd, abbot of the monastery when Augustine landed in
England, and who was canonized after his death, appears to have been
built at various periods, though the greater part of it is of modern
erection. The communion-table, of white marble, and the floor within the
rails, of black and white marble, were the gift of Mr. Lloyd; and the
altar-piece and tablets, of mahogany with gilt mouldings, were presented
by Mr. Peter Lloyd, in 1775 : the font, which is very ancient, is
ornamented with sculptured heads and shields bearing the Cross of
Calvary, surmounted by the Welsh plume. The arms of the several
rectors of the parish, from the year 1662 to the present time, with the
dates of their respective induction, are arranged in the hall of the
rectory. The Roman road to the station Banchorium passed through the
village, a little to the south of the church; and, in digging graves in
the churchyard, Roman pavements are occasionally found.

The endowed school in the township of Bangor, in which about 30 children
are taught free, was founded in 1728, by Lady Dorothy Jeffreys, widow of
Chief Justice Jeffreys, who gave £500 to be laid out in the purchase of
lands for teaching and apprenticing poor children: the income at present
is £45. 15. per annum. There is a schoolroom for the boys, and the girls
assemble in a cottage. The master and mistress receive a salary of £30
from the endowment, and are allowed to take pay-scholars
; they have also the rent of two cottages belonging to the trust, and a
house rent-free from the rector of the parish. The appointment is vested
in Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., of Oulton Park, the sole
trustee. All the townships participate in the benefit of this school, as
well as in that of placing out poor boys as apprentices from the residue
of the income of the charity; the premium is eight guineas, and about
three boys are apprenticed every two years. There is also a school
supported by subscription, attended by boys and girls, and connected,
like the preceding, with the Established Church; it was founded in
1836, and in 1846 an infants' school was commenced, which is conducted
in a schoolroom under the same roof. The subscriptions in support of the
boys' and girls' school amount to £55 per annum, and those for the
infants' school to £24.

There are several charitable donations and bequests, most of which are
participated in by the other townships. Of these the principal are, a tenement in
Holt parish, left by E. Price, jun., in 1681, and consisting of 5½ acres
and three cottages, yielding a rent of £14 per
annum; a sum of money given by Sir Gerard Eyton in 1786, producing 20s.
per annum, paid by the Leather-sellers Company, of London; a gift of £25
by Kenric Eyton in 1769, vested in the Whitchurch and Wrexham turnpike
trust, paying an interest of 25s. ; another of £40 by Thomas Tunna in
1748, with which, and other funds, a plot of ground was purchased in
Holt parish, consisting of three cottages and a large garden, let at £77
per annum; and a tenement called the Graig, comprising a house, garden,
orchard, and 3½ acres of land, and £200 in money, by Mr. Peter Lloyd,
yielding in the whole £22 per annum. The proceeds of these gifts are
periodically distributed in bread and money. The produce of other
charities, namely £60 by Thomas Lloyd, £50 each by the Rev. Hugh Morris,
and Edward Price, sen., £26 by Sarah Davis for education, and £10 by the
Rev. John Lloyd, has been lost; or most of it, as is supposed, applied
to provide bells for the church.

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